Dishwasher foolishness?

[Motocrossed]

We are the 3rd owners in this 8 year old development house. I have never liked the standard builder issued dishwasher, it is very loud, you have to excessively rinse dishes before putting in machine and the racks are all chipped (rubberized coating peeling off). I really had no intention of replacing unitl I came across a $580 Consumer reports top rated Kenmore for $245. Has all the features, adjustable rack, water shoots from back so more space on bottom rack and has built in food grinder disposer and is rated very quiet. I bought it and my wife freaked out, said ours still working and I am wasting money. I tried to explain that because it is energy star complient it will pay for itself in less then two years with the energy savings and if I waited for it to break down, I would end up paying top dollar to replace it. I said I was being pro-active, she says I am foolish, am I?

[Nexus7]

Ya gotta have your toys man.

Sure, it may use less energy, and be quieter, but the most important thing is new toys.

Have you hooked it up, is it really quieter?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

You sound like an astute consumer to me. You have a second rate machine that does a poor job on the dishes and want to replace it with a superior model. And at a bargain price to boot. Most wives would want to jump your bones after doing that for them.

[CJT]

You p*ssed off your wife, no? How bright is that?

[ameijers]

Read this group for a few days, and you will see the acronym, SWMBO. She Who Must Be Obeyed. In the case of an impulse purchase of a dishwasher, the answer is probably somewhere in the middle- I doubt the payback will be as short as a couple of years, but the PITA factor of a flood and a emergency purchase, and perhaps an overtime plumber (if it turns out to be too weird to switch out yourself), are worth something too. But all that is water under the dam at this point- if it was on sale you probably can't return it anyway, especially if it is uncrated or has had water through it. So grovel a bit, say 'Yes Dear', install it, and start leaving catalogs laying around for stuff she likes. (And for future reference, most females regard the kitchen as 'their' space, even if they hate cooking. Old social traditions like that die hard. She is likely mad because she wasn't involved, as much as about the money.)

aem sends...

[Avery]

Unplug both of them. Leave the dishes in the sink until the girl that you married becomes the wife that you wanted.

[Steve Kraus]

Oh...I thought this was going to be about cooking salmon in the dishwasher.

[buffalobill]

you are wise for the repairing the noise problem, but must learn sound and hearing is a guy thing. like dolby surround sound being better than the tv speakers, audio for the home is your responsibility and so is repairing the dishwasher. so make it up to her with a high volume adjustable showerhead and a 75 gallon hot water tank for the family if you can fit it into the utility room. that will set her home comfort level up while you shop for that new bigger energy star sony tv you really didn't need to replace just yet. :)

-bill

[m Ransley]

The price was good and you hated the old one but it wont pay back from energy usage in less water used . It may in fact cost you alot more to run if what is possible, the old unit did not clean because it did not electricaly preheat the water the new one does, so up may go your electric bill. Water is cheap in usage compared to electricly preheating water. Something to think about in comparisons.

[mm]

I agree with your post, especiallly the last line, but I can't imagine the lack of a dishwasher to be an emergency.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

[buffalobill]

scroll down this page to the table with the various noise sound levels at:

i was only once was lucky enough to buy a dishwasher that was quieter than the microwave oven. if the dishwasher shoppers don't hear the machine running in the store connected to water they won't really be able to compare it. the machines rated with decibels or sones are very few, so shop wisely. we have a year old cheaper bosch and it's noisier at 58db than a ten year old german made ge monogram no longer made there. there were newer bosch models that were quieter in the $1000 price range than the $500 model by about 10db. the appliance companies and ownerships and country of origins are always changing. for appliance repairs also see:

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I guess it would not rank up there with a fire, but in some houses, it would be close ;)

When an appliance breaks, people will often try to replace it quickly and not take the time to do the research most of us would like to do.

[3rd eye]

. So grovel

Very well said.

I did this with a new gas range. I got a bargain on a top rated model. She was pissed because she wasn't involved. Stayed pissed for awhile.

The more she used it she finally admitted she loved it.

[trader4]

The price was good and you hated the old one but it wont pay back from energy usage in less water used . It may in fact cost you alot more to run if what is possible, the old unit did not clean because it did not electricaly preheat the water the new one does, so up may go your electric bill. Water is cheap in usage compared to electricly preheating water. Something to think about in comparisons.

The new energy star ones definitely use less water and electricity. I have a GE Profile and it does not use electricity to heat the water during wash cycles, unless you specifically select it by pushing the extra heat button. However, I do agree that the payback time for a $250 savings is gonna be a long time, a lot longer than a couple years.

However, if the old one was not doing a good job and you didn't like it, that's reason enough to replace. I recently replaced by 17 year old one that was still working because it looked like crap and I saw a great deal on a new one. Very happy with it too, it's super quiedt compared to the old one.

[Banty]

Well, I know a co-worker who does small engine repair on the side. His wife got him an air compressor because he had been talking about one. He was a little miffed and it got exchanged at Sears. So there you go.

Banty

[mm]

That's a good idea. Mine only has on/off for the heated drying.

I didn't think much about the preheated water, unti lthe drain was clogged and I kept running the washer and then rotating the timer to the same starting place. The water got hotter and hotter and finally melted a plastic salad bowl I really liked, that I had washed 50 or

100 times without damage. It's only a little bit and I still use it.

Tht's what I figured.

Our first dishwasher, when I was 10, poured steam all over the kitchen, and the garbage disposal made terrible noises. My mother and I didn't know that both of them were broken!

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

[trader4]

"if the dishwasher shoppers don't hear the machine running in the store connected to water they won't really be able to compare it. "

Then it must be pretty hard to compare them, because I've never seen them hooked up for comparison. It's very rare to even see one hooked up at all, no? I can recall seeing one demo, maybe at Sears, long time ago. But that was one machine and no way to really compare it to any other.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Maytag stores. Everything is hooked up and ready for demonstration. You can even bring your dirty dishes and give it a go.

>

[Rich Greenberg]

In such disputes, the woman is always right. Buy her some expensive jewlery to placate her.